Lenovo Announces Slimmest ThinkPad Yet

ThinkPads are not known for their sleek lines and beautiful
ergonomics – they’re more brute force than delicate touch. But the latest in
the ThinkPad line up has different ideas, attempting to combine strength and
beauty.

Ok, so beauty may be overstating the situation but the
ThinkPad X1 is certainly a major step up from the recently refreshed T L and W ThinkPad lines. The 13.3in X1 is just 17mm thick
which is the same as the latest 13in MacBook Air – though the Air does slim down to an eye-wateringly
narrow 2.8mm at its thinnest point. Still, this is a major step forward for the
ThinkPad range, and Lenovo says it hasn’t lost all the tough credentials
associated with the rugged range. The company claims is has been tested to withstand
drops though no official drop height has been mentioned. There is also the
Gorilla Glass screen to resist scratches and the spill-resistant keyboard.

One of the unique features of the ThinkPad X1 is the
RapidCharge feature which will give you an 80 percent charge in just 30
minutes. The charge time on the X1 is about 2.5 times better than on other
ThinkPad laptops. The battery life is purported to be five hours which can be
doubled with the addition of an external battery pack. The laptop comes with
either Intel's latest Core i3-2310M, which runs at 2.1GHz and includes 3MB of
L3 cache, or Core i5-2520M, which runs at 2.5GHz and again includes 3MB of L3
cache. The laptop supports up to 8GB of RAM and 160GB of SSD storage. An
optional USB 3.0 port is also available. The keyboard on the new X1, as well as
being spill resistant, has also been redesigned to allow people be less accurate
when typing. The upper part of the key has a slight upward cuvre extending the surface
area slightly without making the overall keyboard bigger - which is a neat trick.

The ThinkPad will go on sale worldwide today beginning at
$1,399. Lenovo is hosting an event in London tomorrow evening where hopefully we’ll
get a chance to have some hands-on time with the svelte ThinkPad and let you
know what we think.